


Of Serpents and Guardians

by Kartoffelchan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animal Instincts, Creature Fic, Dumbledore Bashing, F/M, Healing, Hidden Things, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kitsune, Light Angst, M/M, Mates, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Oblivious!Hermoine, Oblivious!Ron, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Shapeshifting, Slight Ginny Bashing, Veela, creature!Harry, luna knows everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:33:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7270303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kartoffelchan/pseuds/Kartoffelchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shortly after the final battle Harry Potter wondered off of the grounds and vanished taking secrets with him only hoping for rest and peace wanting nothing more to find his 'Den', whatever that might mean, leaving his friends behind to scramble searching for him. Things only get worse when certain memories become unlocked and show how much danger the missing 'Boy-Who-Lived' is in and the only one who can truly help him is the least likely to help! Or so they think...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Taken Over Me

_He was running, or well, it **felt** like he was, but he knew that he was walking away from the one place he had ever considered his 'Home' quite calmly. He could feel this pulse of 'Not safe, not safe, not **den**!' in some core part of himself and he found it hard to fight these feelings, no, **instincts**. He walked away in a daze, a wrinkle of his nose and he was gone from the grounds without a trace to be found with only thoughts of finding his 'Den'._

_\--------------------------------------------_

Two weeks after the final battle and before the funeral of Fred Weasley, Harry Potter was nowhere to be found. This was of course a very worrying thing, especially for those who cared about him and counted themselves amongst his family and friends.

"This isn't like Harry, who was the last one to see him?!" Hermione Granger cried out, sniffling slightly and being cradled by her lover, Ronald Weasley, who was paler than usual causing his freckles to stand out even more. The group that surrounded them shuffled a bit before one gave a slight cough.

"Well, erm, the last time I saw him was right af-after the Lupins' funeral..." Neville said, the first one to speak, rather nervous as he felt everyone's eyes shift to stare at him. Luna took his hand and patted it as show of comfort but she was seemingly focused on something not in focus over everyone's heads.

"Okay, so that was about 5 days ago, right?" Minerva McGonagall said trying to keep a level head in group of worried and heartbroken Weasleys and various other members of the Staff and the Order. She saw Andromeda Tonks shift the sleeping baby Teddy, seemingly steeling herself for what she was about to say.

"Yes, I talked to him that evening as well. He was...not his usual himself but all things considered, is that really all that shocking? He seemed awfully upset when I went home that evening with Teddy. Flighty almost." the former Black said, "He seemed to be very unwilling to let Teddy out of his sights, b-but I couldn't just let Teddy stay here with him when he was like _that!_ " she finished her tone slightly hysterical at the end as tears sprung forth. In all truth, she and Harry had been in a bit of a fight that night, Harry wanting her and Teddy to stay with him there at Hogwarts but she didn't feel that it was safe. She had seen sparks of the Black Madness appearing in his emerald eyes, a feral type of thing, possessive really, as he eyed her and her Grandson.

"D-Did anyone see him after that? What about you, Ginny? I know you've been trying to spend as much time with him as possible." Hermione said and watched in confusion as Ginny seemed to huff.

"You mean when he isn't avoiding _me_ to spend time at **_Snape's bedside_** , of all things!" The redhead said heatedly and scowling. "I haven't spoken to him in a 3 days! Seems I and our relationship doesn't mean that much to him!" she screeched and tapped her foot in anger.

" _Ginevra_!" The girl's mother shouted in reproach, ashamed her daughter would say such a thing. "Severus did a lot for all of us, Harry especially feels at fault for what happened! You _**know**_ he feels about those he thinks he is indebted to!"

Shortly after the battle had ended Harry had dragged various people to the Shrieking Shack to help Severus, even if just to bury him, when lo and behold Snape has still clung to life, barely, but he had. It was a miracle, and whilst Poppy and others had done their best to heal the former spy and Headmaster (after all even the enemy had to be healed by healers due to the Oath that had all taken many years before), Harry had filled everyone in about the truth often times forcing people into the pensieve to see the certain important memories (He respected the Professor's privacy enough to not include the more personal of memories) before finally passing out once he heard Snape was in the green, at least legally. Immediately afterwards he had made sure Hermione and Ron had copies of the memories of Narcissa saving him in the forest, although he had kept the rest of it to himself. It had taken some doing, seeing as the Ministry and their society as a whole was in shambles, but even though it had only been a week the Malfoys had been cleared, minus Lucius of course who had nobody to really vouch for him.

The Malfoys were currently staying at Hogwarts helping with repairs, Draco being a bit of a grouchy loner and Narcissa going out of her way to be friendly and helpful.

"The funeral is going to start soon." a monotone voice spoke out, the new voice of George who had taken his twin brother's death very hard. Molly gave a slight gasp and bustled her way over to her broken son and fussing over him. Not that he seemed to notice, only staring blankly at the ground.

"Yes, well. I'm sure Harry will show up and if he doesn't then we'll search all over for him!" Molly said helping bring George to stand with the help of Arthur. Everyone nodded not knowing what else to do, they didn't want to postpone the funeral, after all maybe Harry was hiding himself away to _avoid_ it. Perhaps Remus's was enough to break him for the time being.

"Oh, I hope Harry shows!" Hermione said leaning into Ron as they left the room, her heart breaking at the thought of Harry hiding himself away from the pain. He had been stoic through pretty much everything he had been through, really, and she worried that he was bottling it up too much, and that perhaps now it had all exploded within him. She knew Harry might not mention it or even fully realise it but she knew he was somewhat emotionally stunted to the point of feeling too deeply at times and not knowing what else to do with them he just pushed them aside. She had a feeling it was due to his childhood being raised by those horrendous Dursleys, but Harry would never admit anything knowingly.

"Me too, 'Mione. Me too..."

\--------------------------------------------

Severus jolted himself awake coughing and hacking, causing the nurse watching over him jump and drop her papers. "Professor! Professor, please! Let me get you some water!" she said and hurriedly made her way out of the room to get a glass of water, leaving Snape to his hacking.

_'I'm alive?!'_ he thought, although apparently he might not be for long if he wouldn't stop coughing. He felt a sharp pain in his throat before he began to notice the taste of blood in his mouth. _'Lovely...'_ he thought and felt a tiny bit of relief when the nurse came back with a glass of water which she made him drink slowly.

"..Wha-" he began before grabbing at his torn throat. He could feel thick heavy rope like scar tissue on it and he suddenly felt very ill. Images of Voldemort and that great snake flashing before his mind's eye.

"Don't try to speak yet, Sir!" The nurse began, shaking him out of the flashbacks of what he thought would be _his own death sequence_. "I'm afraid your throat was quite sore from everything and if I'm seeing things properly you've roughed it up quite a bit just now with that hacking. **Not** to worry, we'll have you fied in no time and your voice back to normal~!" she practically chirped and made herself busy with tucking him back in and ignoring his dark glare.

"The Healer in charge of your case will be in soon. Try to take it easy until then, Professor!" she said and sashayed out of the door giving him a sly wink at him before vanishing out of the room. Severus had never in his life felt so confused but he had a feeling that Potter had something to do with this. Afterall women don't just attempt to flirt with him everyday, nor does he cheat Death _quite_ this well everyday either. With nothing else to do but silently and internally freak out, he decided to try and settle down and wait for his 'Healer'.


	2. Listening for my Home

_Home, home, home._ _Where was **Home**? What **was** Home? **Did** he have a Home?_ He shook his head. If he had a **_Home_** then why was he _looking_ for _**Home**_? Wouldn't he already be _in_ Home?

A flash of black, almost blending into the color of the asphalt of the cul-de-sac that night; Green eyes gleaming, glowing even, looking for something, **_Home_**. No, _**Den**_.

He made his way past a screeching metal thing and froze, he remembered something that made his heart hurt that sounded like that, but _what_ was it? _Who_ was it?!

 _"You're such a **freak**! Why do you spend so much time with **him**?! What about **me**?!"_ the screeching said and he shuddered at the memory.

He continued on his way sniffing, home. Now, **Den** was _where_ again? Somewhere here? Another memory hit him then, a large boy making fun of him, he felt a whimper coming.

 **Den ** would be safe from the large boy, he knew it. After all,  ** _Other Den_** wasn't safe, too exposed and smelled wrong. The magic was rotting there just like many of the exposed wooden beams of the place.

Same with the **_Dark Den_** , but that smelled like too many predators and not enough family, not enough to make him stay there at least. Predators must've gotten the family there or else he would've smelled them safe and sound and stayed.

 _"Where's your mum, huh? Where's your mummy, Potter!"_ the big boy had said and he knew he was Potter but _not_. He knew mother was dead. She died for him in _**Other Den**_ , along with Father. He had a kit but the female with the Kit didn't want him there, and he didn't want to fight her for kit because Kit liked the Female.

 _"I think you should spend some time away from Teddy and myself for a while. To grieve."_ a female voice said and with a flare of green fire Kit and the Female were gone.

 _ **Large Stone Den**_ was no longer safe either, it stunk of bad magic and enemies and **_pain_**. He would go back to _**Large Stone Den**_ only if Kit was there. The others would just hurt him like he hurt everyone around him.

 _A flash of blue eyes and black hair falling away from him and into the Beyond_. Kit's Mother and Father were dead because the Snake hunting him brought its fellows and hunted them down. He _killed_ the Snake for it but still, wasn't _safe_. They would want his Black pelt, the Red Ones would. Afterall he got one of theirs killed.

 _Den, where is Den?!_ He took in a deep breath and turned to his right, **Den** was there. And though he didn't like the **_Surroundings_** of the **Den** , **Den** had always been safe.

From the Large Boy and the Big One. The Thin One never bothered with him in there except to tell him to hunt for food...Not that wasn't right. _Make the food_? What was that exactly again? Didn't matter, he could hunt food now that he was grown if he wanted. His legs hurt, his mouth was dry. How many days until he reached **Den** finally? He doesn't remember, just remembers running and running and searching the Dens he knew of but they were wrong. A part of him panicked that he had **_no_** Dens and where was the rest of his family, but then he quickly remembered, he was alone. He didn't have others, he was a dangerous **Freak**.

He shimmied his way inside the **_Surrounding_** with a twitch of his nose. He took a moment to assess the **_Surrounding_** , it smelled as if no one had been there for a while, _'Good.'_ He thought and shut the door behind him and made his way to **Den**. **Den** was safe and dark and cool like always, except he sneezed at the strong other scents. With another twitch of his nose those were gone and he was able to breathe freely again. He smelled himself there from when he was a _tiny_ kit and dug out an old blue piece of cloth, tugged into place before settling down to wait.

Wait, _'wait'_?! Wait for **_what_**? He had **Den** , but he needed to _wait_ for something. He didn't know what it was but he knew it was important and he would be very sick if it didn't happen, right?

 _Right_. So he laid himself back down and decided to rest. He curled up as tight as he could and decided to go to sleep. Later he would hunt, he remembered animals of all kinds and bugs around **_Surrounding_** , and thus, **Den**. He would be fine to wait a while...well until he couldn't.

Huffing to himself he closed his emerald colored eyes ignoring the lonely feeling. He would wait.

\---------------------------------------------------------

 **"What do you mean you've lost Potter?!** " a raspy voice broke through the room causing the commotion to subside. 

"S-Severus! You're here!" Minerva said honestly surprised to see the man on his feet so soon, not to mention speaking and glaring like nothing had really happened except maybe a small cold that left his voice not quite back yet. He shot the old tabby witch a glare and then went back to staring down the rest of the group.

"How long has he been missing for?" He asked, only feeling frustration at the moment. His voice was not yet fully back and now he needed to keep these dimwits in line, _'To lose Potter of all people?!'_

"Y-yes, well, we noticed he was missing right before Fred's funeral but we think he might've been missing three days before then..." Hermione began but stopped short when Severus shot a glare at her specifically.

"And that means what exactly to me, Miss Granger? Has it not slipped your _immense mind_ that I've been indesposed of for the **_past three weeks_**?!" He said and she gave a shudder.

"Oi, come off it, Professor! We've all been having a rough time of things, don't take it out on 'Mione!" Ron shot back glaring at his old Potions Professor with the same amount of heat and hatred as Snape himself did.

"A week and two days, Professor. Roughly." Luna piped in, her eyes misty and staring at him but over his shoulder. He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I see. And the last one to see Potter?"

"That would be Ginny, Sir. They seemed to have had a spat." Neville said looking worn and tired, he had spent some time along with the older Weasley boys and Draco searching the Forbidden Forest the past few days, night and day looking for his Battle Brother.

"A **_spat_**? Please don't tell me that Potter has flounced off somewhere to pout because of his relationship!" Severus said eyeballing them all. Hermione immediately shook her fluffy head, hair being more crazy than usual, "No, sir. We've already looked all over the castle and Grimmauld. He wasn't there."

"He wasn't at the Burrow either! Or Bill and Fleur's place! Oh, Severus! I'm so _worried_ about him!" Molly cried out taking comfort from Arthur who looked just as worn out as Neville. "Where else could he have **_gone_**?!"

"Has anyone tried the Goblins? To see if he's maybe hiding at some of his properties?" The dour man asked. _'Where else could he have gone? I pray he hasn't been taken by leftover Death Eaters. I've put too much effort saving that boy's skinny little arse for him to die now while I'm left alive!'_ He thought heatedly.

Ron snorted, "Yeah I don't think he's going to be seen by Goblins for quite some time. They'd probably demand his head right on the spot, legal issues be damned." Snape shot him a curious look and briefly remembered hearing about the Break in, and then, out of Gringotts.

"Right, so, anywhere else?" he asked and watched as the remaining part of the Golden Trio began to fidget. "Well," Granger began softly, "I suppose he could be hiding in the Chamber somewhere, I'm sure not _all_ of it was flooded... Ah! But he lost his Parseltongue ability..."

"He could be in that forest we were in, right? That was important or something right?" Ron said looking confused all of sudden until he grabbed at his head in pain. Hermione then mimicked him before both suddenly looked up at each other and cursed.

"How could he?!" Hermione began after that while Ron grumbled annoyedly.

"How could he do what? And who's _'he'_?" Neville asked curious about what had just happened with the two. 

"Harry! Harry **_obliviated_** us! In the Forest of Dean!" Hermione said and then paled, "He Obliviated us because-!"

"His inheritance!" Ron finished and everyone in the room jumped. "What do you mean, Mr. Weasley?" Minerva questioned eyes focused on the boy in question.

"Harry had a late inheritance of the creature kind! He Obliviated us because we wanted him to stop pushing himself so hard!"

"That's right! The book said something about his kind being susceptible to their instincts turning feral if they weren't 'claimed' shortly after 'awakening', as the book put it right?! We got into a huge fight about it!" Ron finished. Both looked grim now, and Severus quirked an eyebrow.

"And what exactly is his 'kind'?" he said and the two Gryffindors shared a look before nodding at each other and staring him in the eye.

"Harry is a Kitsune, not a 'Born-Kitsune', but a 'Human-Born' one. And he needs to be found immediately or else we'll lose him forever! Either to his feral instincts or something _**worse**_!" The Know-It-All said, tears in her eyes. Severus took step back, _'Human-Born Kitsune were rare, powerful as well but also creatures of emotions and instincts. If a Human-Born Kitsune isn't 'Claimed' by family or Mate soon after awakening they would slowly go feral, losing themselves to their 'animal half' as some put it. But if Potter was able to bull-headedly push through that, or from the way things sound, stomp that down so deep it wouldn't get in the way there's a chance he could fall into a coma and waste away in a matter of days!'_

"How many tails did he have?!" He found himself shouting suddenly while the others had been filled in on the specifics causing them all to jump slightly, though his voice was still raspy and he knew he probably shouldn't be pushing it that much. But it _was_ important.

"I-I think three, Professor! I'm n-not quite sure the memory is still a bit fuzzy!" Hermione said and Severus nodded. "We still have some time to find him then before it's too late! He's probably two tails down by now at least!"

"Wait, what does the amount of tails have to do with anything?!" Ron said as Snape began pacing the room trying to think of where Potter could've gone and any way possible to find him before his third tail failed him and he died!

"Kitsune's power rely on a number of things, one of these things that shows the amount of power a Kitsune has is its number of tails. The highest and most revered being the number nine. The tails are also a good measure of seeing a Kitsune's health. Healthy looking tails mean the Kitsune is healthy and, usually, happy. The more lacklustre the tail or tails are, the more likely the Kitsune is ill or depressed. In Potter's case, his tails would probably be in bad shape by now and if his third tail begins to follow them he will most likely slip into a coma and waste away in a few days, at most! Kitsunes are family and clan oriented beings, thus when a Kitsune has no clan or has been rejected it will lose its will to live. It's also said that those who waste away end up becoming malevolent spirits known as Kitsunetsuki, where in they will possess a human and drive them crazy. Only an exorcism done in an Inari Shrine can get it to leave its host. It will possess both Magicals and Muggles alike. We must hurry." He finished shocking the room with his knowledge apparently for a silence followed his explanation; He rolled his eyes, "Sometime today, we need ideas!"

After much squabbling and discussion, one voice piped up amount the rest.

"What about his relative's place?" Luna said her eyes more focused now. Snape turned to stare at her and at that moment had sickening feeling in his gut. The Lovegood girl always had dreamy eyes and was never this serious and he happened to become suddenly aware how many of the times she seemed to _see_ more. Not quite a _seer_ perhaps, but enough to _know_ things.

" _ **The Dursley's?!**_ Are you mad?! Er, Madder than usual Luna?!" Ron said rather rudely in Severus' opinion, Granger's too seeing she elbowed him in the stomach quite hard.

"Wouldn't hurt to try I suppose. Although why he would go back to that place is beyond me." Arthur said nodding at Luna's suggestion. 

"I will see to it that Poppy has all she might need. The rest of you go and retrieve Harry before it's too late." Minerva said and hurriedly left the room, well as hurriedly as someone her age and shape could do. The others got up to leave but Severus held out a hand to stop them.

"Wait, perhaps a smaller group would be wise. I also think that I should try to get to him first-" he began but was cut off by a sudden screeching.

"No! I won't allow it! If Harry needs his Mate, then _I_ shall go!" Ginny stood up glaring Snape in the eyes. Coal met brown as they had a stare off, Severus not backing down simply because he was **_Severus Snape_ ** and Ginny not backing down since she felt that jealousy surged through her veins at the thought of Harry being around _**Snape** _ again. The staring lasted for a few moments longer before Snape narrowed his eyes and said, "Miss Weasley, while I do not care whether you are Potter's mate or not the fact remains that he left here because he felt unclaimed and, most likely, _not **safe**_. As you were the last one to see him, perhaps the so called spat you had with him caused more damage than you care to realize. The fact that he left here implies that he felt that not a single one of you here would claim him as clan, or rather his instincts did. Thus, someone who was not around might have a higher chance of actually helping the boy." he said coolly and logically. Ginny's face turned red and blotchy, and she fingered her wand, still glaring at the Professor.

"We'll see." she said and faster than one would think she dashed out of the room heading for the nearest apparition point. Snape snarled and turned to follow after her immediately, Ron and Hermione at his heels leaving the rest to ponder if what Snape had said was true.

Did Harry not view them as family? Was he, Merlin forbid, _afraid_ of **them**?

\-------------------------------------------------

Waiting was bad, Harry decided. He wasn't quite sure what he was waiting for but the more time went on the more he began to lose hope that anything would _ever_ happen. But what if he _left_ and something **_did_**? So, he stayed in his **Den** ignoring his stomach that growled and grumbled, ignored the want for a drink, ignored the flashes of heat that would come and go and the chills that would grip him.

Perhaps, he should sleep more? That seemed like a good idea, he remembered doing this in the **Den** before too. So maybe he wasn't too far off from where he needed to be. Afterall when someone came-!

He was waiting for someone to come? _Why_?

_Family. Clan._

_Oh_....He laid his head down again and gave a huff. He didn't have one of those. He felt pain in his back, but that was okay. _'That had happened in **Den** before too.'_ He thought and rolled onto his side and eyed the entranceway to his **Den**. So far no predator had come by, even into **Surrounding** , so **Den** was safe. He could go to sleep. Yeah, that sounded good as another wave of chills swept through him. Maybe he'd dream of his Kit or Mother and Father again?

\-------------------------------------------------


	3. Promises Of The Guard

Chapter Three: Promises Of The Guards

It was a bit of a race against both time and a very determined Ginny Weasley to get to Number 4 Privet Drive, for Severus was almost completely certain that Ginny bursting in through the door and demanding Harry leave with her was _not_ going to help him.

_‘Potter, not Harry.’_ A part of him reminded, still in tune for the war that was over. He mentally waved it away. Either way his life was in danger and it didn’t matter that much, _‘Well, thoughts for later.’_ he thought to himself and rounded the street that Petunia’s old house had been on. Apparently, they had decided to keep the house for Dudley to move into to raise his own family in, so now it just stood fairly empty and abandoned though it didn’t _look_ it. The lawn surprisingly a bright healthy green and at a perfectly mowed length, the Agapanthus and Pansies doing fine as well.

“Hurry, Ginny just entered the house!” Hermione cried and they picked up the pace, _‘Oh, Ginny! Now isn’t the time!’_ she thought angry that her friend would be so petty at such an important time.

“Harry, Harry! Love, your Mate is here! Come on out! I’m sorry!” Ginny could be heard shouting and scampering about the house. Severus rolled his eyes, he was beginning to doubt Ginny would make a good _‘Mate’_ for anyone.

“Ginny, **_stop_**! You’re probably making things worse!” Hermione bit out and Ron went to restrain his sister, hoping that Harry was here and that he wasn’t dead, dying, or frightened out of his mind.

“Let go of me! Harry, come on out! Ron, let me go or I’ll hex you!”

“Don’t care.” He grunted and with Hermione’s help they managed to get her out of the house leaving Severus alone in the empty house.

It was so suddenly silent it almost felt like there was a ringing in the air. He stood still trying to think of where Harry would be, when he heard a small noise. A quiet huff followed by an awful racket that sounded like something was in pain. He immediately found the source to be from the cupboard under the stairs and he made his way over trying to remain calm and quiet. What if Potter was too far gone?! What was that _racket_?!

Suddenly it went quiet and he took a deep breath before opening the small door. Inside it was dark and a bit dusty, a small cot with a lump on it was in there but no sign of Potter.

“Damnit Potter, where are you? You need help...” He muttered to himself before attempting to move the lump on the bed only to come to the realization that the lump was a bundle of black fur.

A sudden yip and he was struggling to hold a fluffy black fox who was making that terrible racket again sounding like a mix between a cat and goat being strangled.

“Potter?! **_Harry?!_** ” He said and the fox stopped it’s struggling slightly to sniff at him before struggling again, albeit weakly. Severus looked at the small fox, for it was smaller than he had seen foxes be, three tails hanging limply and looking rather washed out or dusty, almost like smoke now that he thought about it, as he held Potter through the last of his struggles. The fox stopped its struggle and gave a heavy rattling sort of huff, turning it’s muzzle towards him and sniffing his clothing and then looking up at the human that held it.

Severus stared down into too green eyes and sighed; Harry didn’t look too good. Despite the coloring of his eyes they were slightly washed out and the pupils were dilating and contracting fiercely, his nose was extremely dry and almost cracked looking, the skin looking just wrong and rumpled.

“Oh, Potter.” he said and cradled the little thing close to him. “Why in the world did you do this to yourself? Surely the Weasley’s weren’t so bad?” he said and upon mentioning the name Weasley the fox began to struggle again although it soon stopped and started shivering and blinking its eyes, breathing wheezily and Severus found himself more worried than he had ever been.

“Potter...” he said but the fox didn’t respond still shivering and not seeming to be aware of what was going on besides its own suffering. “Harry.” he said the fox’s ears perking a bit but eyes remaining closed, “Harry please, _please_ look at me. I know you’re scared and not yourself, but I _swear_ to you, **_you won’t be alone any longer_**!”

It was then that a stream of vermillion light appeared surrounding the two and the sound of soft chimes and the smell of some sort of alcohol swept around them. Severus held onto the small fox tightly shielding it from a sudden storm of what he could only guess was rice. The wind carrying the rice calmed down as did everything else ending with a loud snap and the sudden disappearance of the light.

Severus lowered the arm shielding them from the blizzard of rice and looked around wearily, sensing that for the time being nothing else was going to happen he looked down at the small fox that has stopped it shivering and was looking up at him curiously. It opened its mouth and began yipping and barking and making that awful racket again and Severus winced at the sound.

“ **Please, quiet down, Potter!** ” he snapped and rolled his eyes when the creature did but when back to resting in his arms and occasionally sniffing his robes. He had an idea of what had just happened and while he felt like banging his head against the nearest hard surface, _repeatedly_ , but he couldn’t quite bring himself to be too upset by what happened. After all, it did put a stop to Potter’s wasting, but he was now bound to the crazy brat as **‘Clan’** , whatever that truly meant. He would probably be stuck nursing the idiot back to health and back from the edge of dying and he gave soft snort when the fox decided to fall asleep in his arms.

“Nothing is ever truly boring around with you around is it?” he muttered and stood up, cursing realizing that he wasn’t quite up to par for doing that anymore. Perhaps he was getting old, or perhaps his body was finally done putting up with the shit he had put it through the past almost two decades now.

“Let’s see what Poppy can do for you.” He said and made his way back outside ignoring the rice that was, well, _everywhere_ , and shutting the door behind him when he left and decided a locking charm wouldn’t be too out of place. He made his way back to the apparition point before apparating back to Hogwarts, the Wizarding World’s Savior turned fox in his arms.  
\-------------------------

Harry had been resting, which was all he could really bring himself to do at the moment, when he heard something approaching _**Surrounding** _ and then _entering **Surrounding**_.

“Harry, Harry! Love, your Mate is here! Come on out! I’m sorry!” the Screeching had arrived, how it found him he didn’t know, but he felt decidedly _unsafe_ , even in his **Den**.

“Ginny, **_stop_**! You’re probably making things worse!” A new female voice said, one that he vaguely recognized. He heard a bit of a scuffle and the grunts of a male human.

“Let go of me! Harry, come on out! Ron, let me go or I’ll hex you!” The Screeching said in its usual tone and Harry curled up into a small ball praying they wouldn’t find his **Den**. Screeching wasn’t _Mate_ , it was a trick to make him come out so that the Red Ones could skin him! He just _knew_ it!

“Don’t care.” He heard a male voice say, one he recognized as belonging to one of the Red Ones, one that he had thought of as Kin back when he was a Kit. But they hadn’t claimed him, so they weren’t Kin or **Clan**.

He remained quiet even as he thought he heard another drifting into the **_Surrounding_**. He snuffed slightly and perked up at the scent he caught. It smelled like **Large Stone Den** but not like the Red Ones and he was torn between calling out to it or just hiding; He decided to call out to it. He was desperate for **Clan** and he was hurting so he began calling out.

He heard the New One approach the entryway of his **Den** and curled up as another wave of pain passed from his back, praying the New One would be **Clan**!

He was aware of the light streaming into **Den** and the scent of New One was stronger than ever. It was male and was muttering something about “Potter”- _‘Was that him, Harry?’_ \- and “Needing help.”

Suddenly Harry found himself being picked up and he became to struggle and cry out, startled from the suddenly light and weightlessness he was feeling.

“Potter?! ** _Harry?!_** ” New One said and the fox stopped its struggling slightly to sniff at the New One, _‘Although he could also be Dark One by his colors.’_ Harry thought, before struggling again, albeit weakly. But New One would not let go and was holding him tightly, not enough to hurt though. Harry stopped his struggle and gave a heavy rattling sort of huff, sniffing the human’s clothing and then looking up at the human that held it.

New One seemed to study him before speaking. “Oh, Potter.” he said and cradled the little thing close to himself. “Why in the world did you do this to yourself? Surely the Weasley’s weren’t so bad?” he said and upon mentioning the name Weasley Harry began to struggle again. Thoughts of the Red Ones who would want to kill him for getting one their own killed and not claiming him as **Clan** , thus rejecting him to this fate spinning in his head. He soon stopped however; His body’s energy failing him, another wave of cold hit this time and he took a wheezing breath. He felt _not good_ , and dizzy, and everything was starting to hurt. He shut his eyes lost in the pain and the coldness.

“Harry.” He heard and his ears perked a bit but eyes remaining closed, “Harry please, _please_ look at me. I know you’re scared and not yourself, but I _swear_ to you, **_you won’t be alone any longer!_** ” New One said and suddenly Harry felt a soothing warmth flow through him; The pain fading away and the settling of his weary soul and mind.

It was then that a stream of vermillion light appeared surrounding the two and the sound of soft chimes and the smell of some sort of alcohol swept around them. And Harry instincts called out in joy, _‘ **Clan**! **Clan at last**!’_

He looked up at New One, Clan, and began to yip and shout his joy! He wasn’t alone! **Clan** had claimed him at last!

“Please, quiet down, Potter!” His Kin snapped and Harry did, going back to resting in his human’s arms and occasionally sniffing his robes. The scent lulled him to sleep and he just knew that **Clan** would keep him safe from Red Ones, because, as Harry began to remember, New One was one that had _always_ protected Harry’s life. He had been Kin to his Mother when they were Kits and kept watch over Harry as a Kit too! He decided to go back to sleep this time knowing that when he awoke he would be better and _safe_. He might’ve mourned the loss of **Den** but he knew at some level that New One, Clan, lived at **Large Stone Den** and he would have to deal with it.

“Nothing is ever truly boring around with you around is it?” he heard New One, Clan, say before he drifted off into a deep healing sleep.


	4. Serpent in the Hallways

Draco Lucius Malfoy had had a rough couple of years. It had started the summer before his Fourth year when his father began to regale him of tales of the Dark Lord, despite Narcissa doing her best to stop him. Still, it hadn’t really shocked Draco when his father was involved on the attacks at the World Cup, and it was literally only due to the Ministry’s own incompetence that none of the Death Eaters who played part of the attack were caught. His father took great joy in talking about it with a couple of his old pals, Draco remembered that Lord Parkinson had nearly laughed himself _sick_ when he remembered the muggles they had attacked both in the present and past.

 

Later, when that school year came to an end, the Malfoys were given quite a shock when their ‘Lord’ had returned from the dead and was pretty upset with them (Not them actually, manly Lucius but the whole family would be the ones to pay). Voldemort gave his new orders and Draco drifted along doing what his father asked of him, as well as keeping up to his usual annoying Potter and Co and eventually taking great pleasure in abusing the power that had Umbridge had given him. But, that year had ended and with it was Draco’s childhood and peace of mind. His father had been caught at the Ministry and the Dark Lord revealed sooner than the psychopath would’ve liked, thus Draco and Narcissa had to pay for Lucius’ mistakes. 

 

He was charged with the task of killing Headmaster Dumbledore, a no doubt impossible challenge that Voldemort had given Lucius’ son just to punish the man, as well as him being marked. He at first tried to wear his task as sign of his status, after all only the best would be given the task of killing Voldemort’s second most hated nemesis, but it soon crumbled when he actually tried to go through with the task. And as an added bonus he had opened his mouth mentioning the Vanishing Cabinet to his Aunt Bellatrix who in turn told her Lord like the ever faithful dog she was, so he then had to find a way to fix the damned thing to let the Death Eaters invade the Castle at the end of the year. His sixth year was his true worst year because after that came the war, and whilst one would think being a Death Eater,  thus on the Dark Lord’s side, one would be spared of any of the extreme unpleasantness ** _He_** would show upon his enemies, one would be wrong. **Dead wrong.**

 

Voldemort took over his family’s manor and grounds, using it as his own despite the fact that all Malfoys themselves felt dirty having their ancestral home taken over and wanted nothing more than for the man to go away at that point. The summer before his Seventh Year was spent between avoiding the Dark Lord in his own home, as well as his _lovely_ Aunt Bella. It was also the summer of his 17 year and thus his Magical Maturation, only it turned out to be a bit more.

 

Turns out that despite all of Lucius’ propaganda the Malfoys did indeed have creature blood in their line closer than ‘ _A century or so ago_ ’ and Draco had received a special sort of inheritance, one of the creature sort. 

 

It was only due to his mother’s intelligence and overall cleverness that he was able to hide it from their Lord and even Draco’s father, whom would probably look down at his son in scorn (despite the fact that many a type of creature blood is seen as a good thing in many Pureblood circles) and might rat him out to their Lord. It was covered up all nicely and Draco was more than pleased to just ignore the creature inheritance as a whole, he knew occlumency but he wasn’t a true master and thus didn’t want to be thinking of it and having the Dark Lord just pluck it out of his head like one plucks out a weed from their garden, up until _**She**_ came.

 

Draco was beyond upset at the Universe that his mate was **_Looney Lovegood_**. He had immediately been torn between his instincts to ‘take care’ of his mate and denying that those instincts even existed in the first place. Luckily for him, he was only there for a couple of weeks before returning to Hogwarts.

 

Unluckily for him it seemed that he had two mates, and the second one made him even more upset than the first. 

 

Bloody Longbottom of all people! **_Longbottom_**! ‘ _Surely this is punishment for the sins of my family, yes. That must be it._ ’ he had thought and made sure to remain as far away from Longbottom as possible, seeing as the stupid Gryffindor was causing trouble and was apparently trying to get himself killed. 

 

Still, in the end, Potter played possum and defeated the maniac who had attempted to rule their world. It was only thanks to his mother that once again their hides were, for the most part, intact (Nobody bothered to bring up Lucius since him serving his sentence was basically Narcissa's ultimate version of ‘ _You’re sleeping on the couch, Mister!_ ’ for all of the things he had put her and her son through.) This left them with Narcissa mostly taking the lead on working their way back into the world in a more positive light and Draco being a sulking, confused grump.

 

Draco’s creature viewed this as time to finally begin emerging and finally claim its mates; Draco on the other hand wanted nothing more than to ignore that for a while longer, maybe even the rest of his life. He couldn’t accept his creature side of him and also couldn’t see _how_ a relationship between the three of them would work out. 

 

‘ _I don’t even know how to approach them or this at all!_ ’ He thought, scowling intensely as he wandered the castle.

 

Within a few hours he got his answer. Potter had gone and run off, apparently due to a spat with the Weaslette or whatever. Draco would’ve applauded such a thing had he not been secreting himself away into the shadows whilst his mother flitted about trying to help the family’s image. 

 

While Draco was ghosting through the hallways, brooding as was his new usual, he had been found by Longbottom who was rounding up a group of others to go search the Forbidden Forest for the Golden Boy. Draco, due to his blasted creature, found himself unable to refuse the plea of one of his mates, even though he personally thought it was a dumb idea to go there. In his mind, why would Potter go run off into the dark and dreary woods after a lovers spat? Not even _Potter_ was that foolhardy or dramatic.

 

Still, unable to turn down the request of his mate, Draco went into the forest looking for the world’s beloved Hero and Savior, Harry Potter.

 

“Thanks for coming out here to search with us, Draco. I know you and Harry weren’t ever close, but it really means a lot that you’d come out here to look with us.” Longbottom had said as they returned to the castle one day after useless searching. Draco inwardly preened but remained blank faced and responded with a simple hum of agreement. As each day passed he could sense the growing sadness and frustration coming off in waves from both of his mates, Longbottom more so than Lovegood mainly due to proximity. Still, this both drained him and infuriated his creature, empathy for his mates and his own frustration at being unable to make their sadness stop.

 

“You know, your mother has been worried about you. You’re never at meals, and always, well, skulking around...” Longbottom began after a couple of moments of silence. Draco inwardly winced and wanted to groan, of course his mother couldn't leave it all alone! Outwardly he remained impassive as ever, seeing where the rest of this would lead.

 

“Well, I, uh, know that you’re probably not the most welcomed person here, but, we wouldn’t mind you coming in to eat with us.” Draco’s mate said suddenly looking as awkward and sheepish as he used to, back in their school days, before the war. Draco felt his chest tighten.

 

Longbottom went on to say, “Us, being, you know, Luna and your mum and me...” At this Draco turned to look at the man, brow furrowed.

 

“Mother?” He asked, rather confused as to why she had anything to do with where and when Longbottom and Lovegood ate meals. Neville seemed to redden slightly and mumbled, “She usually eats with us.”

 

And yet again Draco found himself wanting to bash his own head in. ‘ _Of course she would. One of her many bad habits, not knowing when to leave things alone, especially things that are **none of her business!**_ ’ He unknowingly scowled and Neville smiled a bit at the expression.

 

‘ _Cute..._ ’ The Gryffindor thought, thinking back to what Luna had told him...

 

_ ‘My dear Lion-Heart, we have another, you know?’ She had said suddenly during one of their quiet walks in the safer parts of the castle, her dainty hand in his. _

 

_ ‘Another what?’ He asked her, confused but not truly surprised by this random blurb from her. He had gotten used to it over the years, not even bother to really question what went through her head other than in fond tones. _

 

_ ‘Another love, Love.’ she said, smiling sweetly at him with her usual dreamy gaze. Neville stumbled slightly but kept pace. _

 

_ ‘Wh-what?’ He squawked, for once really questioning if somehow the cues Luna got from wherever/whomever got mixed up. Or was this her way of telling him that she wasn’t satisfied with him...Even though they hadn’t gotten that far yet...Still, what if that’s what she really meant? _

 

_ Luna took her beloved’s head in her hands, forcing him to bend down slightly and meet her gaze, ‘Hush now, Lion-Heart. I am not unsatisfied with you, but we are both unfulfilled while our third is out there denying his true self and us.’ She had said in a hushed tone. Neville remained quiet for few moments asking, ‘Do we know where he is? Who he is?’ and watched a sad smile form across Luna’s face, ‘Yes and yes...’ _

 

_ Another moment of silence before Neville said, ‘It’s not Harry, is it?’ and Luna gave a giggle causing him to relax slightly and relaxing even more as she rubbed his cheeks lightly with her fingers, her hands still cradling his face. _

 

_ ‘No, his path for that is separate from us. Our third will need our gentleness, kindness, and he may think he will need our forgiveness, but he already has it. The world will not be kind to him, but we will always be there for him, something he has never truly experienced outside of family.’ she said and leaned forward to brush her lips lightly across his own. _

 

_ ‘Who is it, or am I to figure it out on my own?’ He asked leaning forwards and nuzzling her forehead, and he felt her hum. _

 

_ ‘This one time, Lion-Heart, I believe I can cheat and give you the answer, if only because our Third needs us so. He is the Serpent in the Hallways, he is the tarnished prince of his House, he is one who is as stubborn as stone, cold as ice, but on the inside is as fragile as cracked glass and as warm as a hearth’s fire. He is Draco Malfoy...’ _

 

At first he didn’t believe her, the second time he had found himself doing so, but as he watch the pale blond, an ex-bully of theirs, stalk around the hallways with a grim look on his pale face, only seeming to give any sort of positivity to his mother, and hunched in upon himself knowing that he wasn’t as welcome here as others would lead him to believe, Neville found his heart clenching. He began searching out the boy, no, _man_ now (for he was as grown as all of them, no longer spoiled or hiding behind his father’s power and his mother’s skirts) at all moments, keeping an eye out for the young Malfoy, wondering who should make the first move. Eventually Luna did, perhaps in a roundabout way, but she did.

One day, at dinner time, Luna had tracked down Narcissa Malfoy and sat down with her to eat. They had polite conversations, despite the tremble in Narcissa’s hands caused by the guilt that ravaged the mother (for this could be her daughter-in-law one day if her stubborn and prideful son ever stopped denying himself and she had had a hand in causing harm to befall her in the one place that _should’ve been **home**_ ), before Luna brought up Draco. He had watched from a it away as Narcissa seemed to deflate and hunch over onto herself as well, and looking at Luna with tears in her eyes. It had hit him then that she had known about all of this, that her son was denying himself his soul mates because of so many reasons and Narcissa was at her wit’s end trying to make everything okay.

 

Narcissa Malfoy might not have been as outright warm and loving as Molly Weasley, but she felt and cared for her child just as deeply, and her son was hurting and so confused and bitter about everything. Perhaps she should have had stepped in more to stop Lucius from doing this to their family, she had no idea how but she should’ve tried more. She should’ve made sure the Lucius’ idiotic ‘ _Pureblood beliefs_ ’ wouldn’t have been taken so directly from his own father (How Abraxas Malfoy hated any type of magical ‘being’, calling them vile, and beastly all because a Veela had spurned his affections when he was a boy despite knowing that he was to be wed to another and that no Veela would become a paramour to anyone) and that Draco would’ve grown up knowing that magical beings were of high value to Pureblood families, as magical creature blood helped to wipe out the problems with ‘inbreeding’. (All Blacks knew of this and the ones who had issues with it were based more on foolish vanity or pride than any actual harm being done to the bloodline, two striking examples would’ve been Aunty Walburga and her own sister, Bellatrix.)

 

Neville _knew_ that something had to be done for all of their sakes and used the ‘newfound’ Gryffindor Courage he had and began to come up  with a way to approach the Malfoy without startling him and sending him deeper into his denial. One day it simply came to be that he genuinely needed help looking for Harry in the Forest, and had a good reason to have Draco, to be near him and get to know him.

 

“She hasn’t been too much of a bother has she?” Draco suddenly said, jolting Neville back into the present, and the Gryffindor shook his head, “No, she’s quite lovely to be around, very smart and Luna likes talking with her a lot. I would’ve thought she’d be more-” here Neville cut himself off not quite sure where he was going with this statement or if he should’ve to begin with, before Draco began, “What? Elitist? Rude, calling her ‘Looney’ like everyone else?!” he snapped, anger rushing into him for defense of his mother. Of course his mother would not have done anything of the like! She was a classy, intelligent, highly polite woman, not like the rest of the riff raff who call themselves her fellows!

 

Neville paled and began to stammer, “Uh-no, th-that’s n-not wh-what I-!” but he was cut off as Draco stormed passed him, shoulder checking him as he went. 

 

‘ _To believe my instincts would have this insulting buffoon to be a mate! Fate can only be so cruel to us in such a short time! Granted perhaps we deserve it...Perhaps I deserve this for how terrible I’ve always been?!_ ’

 

Meanwhile Neville was left stunned and panicked, and cursing himself for screwing up! ‘ _Oh no, oh no! Now what?! I’ve got to tell Luna! She’ll know what to do, right?!_ ’ and with those panicked thoughts he ran to go on a hunt for his Moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait and sort of short chapter! I have been busy and distracted! I got a new laptop for Xmas and with it I got Overwatch, which I am obsessed with, and in January my Step-Mother gave birth to my two younger half-brothers! @A@ Been so busy and stressful lately!


End file.
